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Design, aerodynamic analysis and optimization of a next-generation commercial airliner

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Abstract

Unconventional configurations and innovative propulsion technologies have been continuously developed for reducing both fuel-burn and global net carbon emissions. This article describes an advanced civil transport aircraft designed from the combination of a Box-Wing configuration with a Boundary Layer Ingestion (BLI) propulsion system. A conceptual-level Multidisciplinary Design Optimization strategy provided the main aerodynamic and performance characteristics of the aircraft, based on appropriate design requirements, variables and constraints. For direct performance comparison against a conventional aircraft, a single-point objective function based on minimum block fuel was evaluated by means of low-fidelity aircraft models. Subsequently, a back-to-back Computational Fluid Dynamics assessment of non-BLI and BLI versions of the aircraft was performed. Two major analyses comprised the aerodynamic evaluation: (i) quantification of the BLI benefit using the power balance method, (ii) performance evaluation of the propulsor inlet in terms of the total pressure recovery and the distortion index. The conceptual design results showed the box-wing configuration provided major fuel-burn savings compared to its conventional counterpart. On the other hand, the BLI version reduced engine power requirements at cruise in comparison with the non-BLI version, but decreased the total pressure recovery, resulting in more distortion at the aerodynamic interface plane. The main contribution of this study lies on the potential benefits of such an original unconventional configuration, whose technologies increased aerodynamic performance, which reduced fuel consumption and hence carbon emissions.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Prof. Dr. Alvaro Abdalla and Prof. Dr. James Waterhouse, for their important contributions during the conceptual design of the aircraft. The authors also acknowledge Prof. Dr. Jõao Luiz F. Azevedo, Prof. Dr. Ney Rafael Sêcco, Prof. Dr. Odenir de Almeida, and Dr. Luis Gustavo Trapp, for their time and effort assessing this work. The authors gratefully acknowledge the input and support provided by Prof. Dr. David W. Zingg and the members of the Computational Aerodynamics Group at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies. The authors disclosed receipt the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: this work was funded by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - CNPq (grants 141950/2017-0 and 203402/2019-7).

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  1. Hernán Darío Cerón-Muñoz and Fernando Martini Catalano have contributed equally to this work.

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  1. Department of Aeronautical Engineering, São Carlos School of Engineering - University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, 13563-120, Brazil

    Pedro David Bravo-Mosquera, Hernán Darío Cerón-Muñoz & Fernando Martini Catalano

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Bravo-Mosquera, P.D., Cerón-Muñoz, H.D. & Catalano, F.M. Design, aerodynamic analysis and optimization of a next-generation commercial airliner. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 44, 609 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-022-03924-x

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